68200 Mulhouse
Mailing address : 31 Jean Mieg St
68100 Mulhouse
Tel : 00 33 (0)3 89 45 35 19
Fax : 00 33 (0)3 89 56 39 65
Email : france@afriquefuture.org
77694 Kehl-Kork
Mailing address : Theresia Lochow Nachtigallenstr.6
77731 Willstätt
Tel : 00 49 (0)78 52 979 07
Email : deutschland@afriquefuture.org
Tel : 00 237 9 984 2074 or
Tel : 00 237 9 998 9750
Email : cameroun@afriquefuture.org
St-Mathias-sur-Richelieu
Québec-J3L 6A2
Tel/Fax : 00 1 450 658 3807
Tel : 00 1 819 776 4190
Email : canada@afriquefuture.org
Development of communication channels
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Dirt roads and bridges constitute the communication network in Cameroon. Only a few main arteries such at the one called «heavy artery» that links Douala to Yaounde are tarred. A large majority of the villages are accessible only by footpath or broken down dirt roads to the point they are no longer suitable for vehicles. |
The lack of roads prevents any exchange. The villagers’ life is confined to their localities to their costumes, to their limited vision of existence and of the world. They are deprived of accessible health care and schooling.
They do have some contacts with those who have, exceptionally not to say miraculously, succeeded in leaving the village and who some day returns, because the African remains attached to his or her village. It can also happen that they may be hospitalized in the city or on a rare occasion visit another area.
A number of villagers are asking for roads that would open them to other areas.
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Father Emmanuel and the technicians of AFRICA FUTURE receive the requests and verify their legitimacy. If the applications for co-financing are accepted (understood that AFRICA FUTURE holds their share of the financing) the construction site is opened. |
The villagers prepare the aggregate: the women and the younger people extract the sand and the stones from the river; the men collect and crush the stones. The lumberjack from the village, if there is one, or one who generally works with AFRICA FUTURE go into the forest to bring down the trees and cut them up into the needed boards.
A volunteer village team (non specialized workers or professionals) is formed to create a workforce for the construction of the roads and bridges. This contribution constitutes the part called “local contribution” in the co-financing budget.
AFRICA FUTURE CAMEROON organizes and manages the work, provides technical assistance, buys and transports the materials such as the cement and the metal, and is responsible for the co-financing file.
The non-qualified workers take benefit of the opportunity to receive a formation in scrap dealing, in bricklaying and in carpentry, such that a very competent team specialized in constructing bridges are now part of the Association.
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Culverts become permanent bridges with a cement overlay in swampy areas. At the closing of the work site, a big celebration takes place. A Mass is celebrated on the bridge. The assembly dances with joy, sing its appreciation and gloats over the many changes now possible in their lives. |
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